Kobe's movie is Lakers' latest sideshow

Then again, it wasn’t too long ago that Bryant would’ve been so steamed by Gordon’s torrid second half that he would’ve assigned himself to guard Gordon, not even consulting Phil Jackson before just going over to pick up Gordon, who was guarding Bryant anyway.

This time, Bryant let Artest continue to try and fail. Bryant just said afterward about Gordon: “We didn’t do a good job chasing him, staying with him.”

Sure, the Lakers have reason that the Clippers don’t to conserve energy: There will be bigger games on other days. But that’s beside the point. If the Lakers just play this game the right way – executing properly in the third quarter and early fourth – they hold their lead and win Sunday.

The Lakers actually had Griffin’s mind quite boggled earlier in the game. He was trying his limited repertoire of moves, and the Lakers were focused on him and ready. He was getting called for early fouls because the Lakers were attentive and well-positioned.

We’ll have to wait and see if Robert Rodriguez draws more action out of Bryant in the movie than what the Lakers are showing now.

KEVIN DING column

LOS ANGELES – To understand just how much the Lakers have going on during the regular season, just consider how Kobe Bryant even has side business to his side business.Bryant has filmed a movie – yes, he is acting in it, and it is really being termed a movie – with a full-fledged Hollywood director: Robert Rodriguez, who made “Spy Kids” and “Sin City.”The movie will be released – and figures to go viral, Nike surely assumes – in its entirety in mid-February at All-Star weekend, when the game for which Bryant is the leading fan vote-getter will be played at Staples Center. It is all being done as a promotion for Bryant’s latest Nike shoe, naturally.The movie will be billed this way: “The world’s best basketball player. … Biggest challenge yet. … Kobe Bryant is the Black Mamba. … A Robert Rodriguez film.”So, a midseason “rivalry” game against the Clippers isn’t Kobe’s biggest challenge yet?We saw on the court Sunday that it obviously isn’t Pau Gasol’s either.Clippers rookie Blake Griffin roared at and rose above Gasol and came through with 10 fourth-quarter points to help Eric Gordon and the Clippers win. Griffin also had eight fourth-quarter rebounds when Gasol, Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum combined for three.Gasol wound up benched in favor of Odom for the stretch run, and Odom then brought the Lakers’ usual regular-season indifference to a new low by complaining that Griffin was playing too hard, too long.This is why the issue of softness pops up time after time with the Lakers – specifically with Gasol and Odom – and must be Whac-a-Mole’d every spring in the playoffs. As long as the Lakers have these spells where they lose focus and intensity, they invite critics to bring up “distractions” such as Ron Artest’s ring raffle and Odom’s reality TV career.Both Gasol and Odom kept whining about Griffin’s intensity after the last-second scuffle.Gasol scoffed at a rivalry with the perennially poor Clippers: “It’s not like super-intense or hate.” Gasol tried to diminish Griffin’s effort by citing how he will “go over your back, shove you, jump through you.”Odom explained why facing a nine-point deficit in the final seconds, the Lakers mathematically could not win, so Griffin shouldn’t have been all over his back for a potential free-throw rebound. Said Odom: “Any other time, I get it.”Think Bryant had Odom’s back because they’re teammates? Here’s Bryant talking about Griffin after the game.“That was the right thing to do: You have to play all the way through,” Bryant said. “You play until the final buzzer sounds. That’s the way I grew up playing.”It wasn’t just the literal final push by Griffin that impressed Bryant, either. It was clearly superior effort.“Blake just ran right through us in the second half, and we didn’t put up much of a fight,” Bryant said. “He just ran through our guys.”Then again, it wasn’t too long ago that Bryant would’ve been so steamed by Gordon’s torrid second half that he would’ve assigned himself to guard Gordon, not even consulting Phil Jackson before just going over to pick up Gordon, who was guarding Bryant anyway.This time, Bryant let Artest continue to try and fail. Bryant just said afterward about Gordon: “We didn’t do a good job chasing him, staying with him.”Sure, the Lakers have reason that the Clippers don’t to conserve energy: There will be bigger games on other days. But that’s beside the point. If the Lakers just play this game the right way – executing properly in the third quarter and early fourth – they hold their lead and win Sunday.The Lakers actually had Griffin’s mind quite boggled earlier in the game. He was trying his limited repertoire of moves, and the Lakers were focused on him and ready. He was getting called for early fouls because the Lakers were attentive and well-positioned.Instead of finishing him off, the Lakers – and Gasol, especially – let Griffin come charging back.“We got that lead, and we definitely relaxed,” Bynum said.Said Jackson: “I didn’t like our energy for the game.”We’ll have to wait and see if Robert Rodriguez draws more action out of Bryant in the movie than what the Lakers are showing now.

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